where i talk about the stuff i make

lunch!

Tomorrow is Lila’s first day of preschool, and along with going to preschool comes packing a lunch…and yet another opportunity to sew something fun! Luckily, one of my many purchased-long-ago-but-never-made patterns was this little lunch bag:

The pattern is called Love your Lunch Box by Gingercake Patterns. She designed it for her daughter to carry to Kindergarten, so it’s perfectly sized for little hands (though big enough to carry an adult lunch, too).

The inside is lined with laminated cotton for easy clean up:

And there are two little outer side pockets

which are perfectly sized for snack bars and fruit leathers and such.

I worked backwards with the fabric on this one – I knew there wasn’t going to be a huge selection of laminated cottons to choose from, so I picked something neutral for the inside then looked through my stash for something to match. This is a Japanese print I bought a few years ago at Cool Cottons, and I’ve been waiting for the right project to come around to use it.

The outer layer calls for heavy weight interfacing, and the inside in insulated with Insul-Bright batting. So it’s got a nice sturdy shape and keeps the contents cool or warm.

Update – Oops, I just realized that her name needs to be on it somewhere (duh). Rubber stamps on twill tape to the rescue.

I bought a little two-tiered bento box to put inside, and now I can’t stop perusing the millions of cute little bento lunch ideas floating around online.

And this may be humorous to no one but me, but when I went to upload my lunch bag photos, my husband had done his own little clandestine photo shoot. Clearly I’m not the only one around here who’s been researching preschool-appropriate lunches. Ha ha. Funny, honey.

Lest you think we eat Pop Tarts over here, those were purchased by my husband for a camping trip and never opened…until the middle of the night last week when I discovered them in the cupboard and the baby begged me to have one, so what could I do? And that corn and crab chowder, which was a bad idea in the first place, expired in 2006 – but instead of getting rid of it like sensible people, we somehow began a tradition of planting it in various places around the house for each other to find. We’re easily amused. And for anyone curious, the jar contains some highly suspect tuna fish. Kind of a seafood theme going on…

Anyway, it’s clear who’ll be in charge of packing Lila’s lunch.

Oh, and the pattern came with a bonus reusable snack bag pattern as well, so I made up a few of those to go along with the lunch bag.

These are the easiest thing ever. They close with a big strip of velcro and can be customized to any size. I lined them with some white PUL, that waterproof diaper fabric (thanks, Amanda!).

That’s it! Here’s a preview of Lila’s first-day-of-school dress. We did a day-before photo shoot this morning, just to be safe :)

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28 Responses

Love that lunch bag!! And, I had no idea there was such a thing as insulated batting! And, thanks for the giggles!! We are easily amused around here as well…I appreciated the silliness! :) Can’t wait to see the dress! Hope Lila has a great first day!

Absolutely adore that lunch bag. Especially the inside laminated polkadot fabric. I Luuuuuuurve polka dots.! :D I’m sure she’s happy to have a such a handy mum who whips up all kinds of cool stuff for her. I would be! Hope Lila has a great day tomorrow.

That lunch bag is fantastic! Absolutely adorable (as is everything that you make!!)
And those lunch pictures that your husband took are hilarious…perhaps that was his way of trying to get out of making the lunches :)

Seriously cute! I have that pattern but haven’t used it yet. I didn’t think it would fit bentos but looks like it will – good to know :) Breaded cod fillets….hilarious. Can you imagine the look on kid’s face if they pulled that out of their lunchbox?! Priceless…

Sigh. I love your posts so much. Your design aesthetic is so spot on! The lunch bag is adorable! Funny thing . . . I’ve been perusing lunch bag tutorials on the web the past few days to make one for Lilah, but got distracted by the backpack instead. So now must make the lunchbag, esp. since seeing yours! And those photos your husband took – too funny! You must have had a good laugh when you uploaded those photos!

Oooh, I love it all! The lunch bag is so cute – the fabrics are perfect. And do I spot a polka dot jump rope dress? I can’t wait to see the rest. Your fabric choices are always so perfect! And I think those lunch ideas look fantastic – who wouldn’t want a huge squeeze pouch of ketchup (!?) with their jarred tuna fish. Yum!!

Hahaha I love it! Nice work on the lunches, N! Her lunchbox is ridiculously adorable; Em picked out a Dora one. Sigh. I’m hoping to do some bento box lunches too; did it for a while for daycare and they’re really fun to put together. Please share if you make especially cute ones! :)

What a gorgeous post! You are so talented! I live all the details you incorporate in your sewing and your awesome fabric choices. I may have to try this pattern when my oldest goes to kindergarten next year. She’d be thrilled to have such a cute lunchbox. Happy school year, Lila!

You are killing me with cuteness this morning! As always, your project is spot on and impeccably made. I am definitely bookmarking boxes of frozen cod fillets for lunchboxes this year–great suggestion!

Amazing Gail! The bag is so perfect and I love the little snack sacks! I hope Lila has a great first day, and I can’t wait to see the rest of her little dress. Thanks again for sharing, it’s always a treat!

Hilarious!
A husband with a great sense of humour is priceless (mine has it as well)!
The lunch bag is amazing! I used a similar print for a cosmetic bag and my girl is always trying to take it away from me (I wonder why, lol?). Lunch hour should be much more easy now, right?

Oooh, I love this so much! This may have to come next on my preschool-related sewing kick. (Love that bento box too, and I’ve been perusing them as well. SO FUN, right?)

And you guys are too funny! Love the random expired can of chowder popping up around the house. Since my housemate is a vegetarian, my husband thinks it’s hilarious to plant cans of Spam and boxes of Hamburger Helper in the back of her cupboard to surprise her. Come to think of of it, it is pretty funny …

great job! i love this one. And your lunch selections are pretty hilarious. I think the baby in my belly would be demanding those pop tarts too- in fact, I may have to send the hubs out to get some for my midnight snacks!

That bag is just adorable and I love the photo shoot with a variety of questionable school lunches! We also have an expired can of tuna that has been travelling from home to home with us since the 90s!